Better Alternatives To Daniel Wellington Watches
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Buying a watch should be something to look forward to. We all want to avoid the dreaded buyer’s remorse. Unfortunately, with many fashion watch brands, such as Daniel Wellington, MVMT and The Fifth watches, you may experience just that. These brands essentially slap their logos on mass-produced, poor quality watches from China, that are manufactured for, at most, a few pounds. The mark-up on many of these products, is unbelievable; with them typically retailing at well over £100 each. Whilst being advertised as ‘affordable luxury’.
The reality is, you can easily get hold of a multitude of watches better than Daniel Wellington that offer far superior value for money, that you’re likely to be much more pleased with in the long run. Over the years, I’ve come across many better pieces that offer the attractive minimalist design that you’re probably looking for. In this article, I’ll be sharing 10 alternatives to Daniel Wellington watches.
Each of the watches in this article fulfil some key criteria:
Each are readily available from proven brands – no obscure Chinese brands
Each have a similar size and minimalist design – it’s likely that’s what you’re looking for. No Seiko dive watches here.
Each are similarly priced (or lower) – it’s likely you’re on a budget, if you’re considering these brands. None of these will cost you thousands
They have an equal or better level of quality – most of these have better build than other fashion watch alternatives.
First, we’ll look at some watches that typically retail for less than a Daniel Wellington watch.
CHEAP WATCH ALTERNATIVES
Timex Fairfield
The US brand Timex have been creating timepieces for over 150 years. In that time, they’ve specialised in providing solid watches at low price points. The Fairfield is their take on minimalist design. This one features a super clean dial, with small, circular second and hour markers. The build quality and finishing of the Fairfield rivals, if not supersedes that of Daniel Wellington – Timex watches are known to take a beating. This model also features Timex’s signature Indiglo, meaning a push of the crown makes this incredibly easy to read at night.
The Fairfield range comes in a variety of colours and also has a sub-second version for added interest.
This all comes in at a fraction of the cost of many fashion watches. You can grab one of these typically for well under £80 on Amazon UK and even lower on Amazon US. This is a great starter watch, with a stylish design. This comes in 41mm and 37mm variants, which means you can choose a smaller size if you have skinny wrists. Overall, these watches are a far better value proposition than the aforementioned brands.
Timex Southview
If you’re after a similar watch to the Fairfield, but with Roman numerals in place of the hour markers; look no further than the Timex Southview. This is essentially just a reimagined Fairfield; I’m unsure which model was released first. This offers the same specifications, just without the Indiglo and comes in at around the same low price.
Casio LTP
A more recent finding of mine is this surprising offering from Casio. This brand started making watches in the 70s and found great success with their famous digital models. The aptly nicknamed Casio Sapphire offers an incredibly similar look to the aforementioned fashion watches, but with improved build quality and specifications. This one has a super-slim design, featuring the same type of Japanese Miyota quartz movement. In addition, this one has Sapphire crystal glass, which provides fantastic scratch protection; this is superior to the cheap mineral glass used by most brands, including Daniel Wellington. I tested this using my Diamond Selector tool, to check if the listing was accurate, and indeed this glass is Sapphire, which is awesome!
The design on these is incredibly minimal, featuring a small sub-dial and thin hour markers. It’s also available in a few different colours, I went for the white dial version to compare with a Daniel Wellington.
These are incredibly good value and are currently available for a crazy low price of around £50 on Amazon UK. Prices will obviously fluctuate, but I think if you’re paying anywhere under £80 for this watch, you’re still getting a great deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if these increase in price over time. You get the modern styling with increased durability, for less money. I’d say for most people; this is the best direct alternative to a Daniel Wellington and in my view is objectively superior. Right now, this is a true, low cost hidden gem.
Swatch
Swiss watchmakers Swatch pretty much invented the quartz fashion watch in the early 1980s. They manufacture a huge range of low cost, vibrant watches that all contain Swiss movements. Overall, most of these watches are more casual in design than other brands mentioned . However, they do offer a multitude of minimalist designs, which look fantastic and are half the price of many drop-shipped fashion watches.
The Rebel series offers perhaps the most minimal aesthetic, with very little clutter on the dial. I recently bought this ‘grape’ variant cheaply from a friend for this post. While the materials on this watch are not as premium as the Casio; this range takes a different approach and offers a different look. These typically feature domed acrylic glass, Swiss movements and silicone straps. I love how comfortable these watches are, the flexible straps and lightweight construction mean they sit easily on the wrist. Though I don’t mind this green version, if I were buying fresh, I’d go for one of the black versions. Either the Dark Rebel or Mono variants would be a more versatile choice.
Swatch do also offer some thoughtfully designed minimalist pieces in their ‘Big Classic’ range. I’ve been pleased with this white-faced Appia; though it has a slightly different dial layout than other watches in this article.
Burei
Nevertheless, if you’re not particularly bothered by brand recognition or heritage, there is another way you can go. There are brands out there that utilise the same type of suppliers as brands like Daniel Wellington but sell their products with a much smaller markup. One such brand is this company called Burei, who sell these low-quality watches at a reasonable price. These are available internationally on Amazon for under £30. While they don’t offer any inherent advantages over other fashion watch brands, or the other watches in this post, they’re super low cost. As far as I can tell, these are incredibly similar to Daniel Wellington, but feature a slightly different type of Japanese quartz movement inside; possibly due to the addition of a date window. The rest of the specifications are the same.
If you’re on a really tight budget and want a watch that looks like a Daniel Wellington, I guess this can work. I’ve noticed this Burei brand has been around for a while and seems to have consistently positive reviews; so, if you want a cheap, Chinese watch, I’d go for this brand.
Braun
I first discovered Braun when looking at electric shavers. I’ve used this one every day for most of the past decade and whilst it’s taken a battering, it still works. I trust their products, so when I found out they made watches a couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprised. Certain designs are still made in Germany, whilst others are outsourced to British brand Zeon for manufacturing in the Far East. However, the Chinese construction does mean that those versions are more affordable than ever.
Acclaimed designer Dietrich Lubs worked on their early analogue wristwatch designs in the late 80’s and 90’s and his philosophy has endured to this day. You can get several timeless Bauhaus designs for under the £100 mark on Amazon; some of these offer incredibly similar, arguably nicer aesthetics than Daniel Wellington watches. Whilst the build quality is nothing amazing, I’d say it’s still a bit better than the likes of MVMT. You’re at least getting a design that’s had some real thought put into it; I would undoubtedly take one of these over a generic AliExpress Watch. I’ve been testing this date version for the last few weeks and have enjoyed wearing it.
Now I’d like to move on to some watches that sell for a similar price to most fashion watch brands; but offer more for your cash.
AFFORDABLE WATCH ALTERNATIVES
Tissot Everytime
Swiss watchmakers Tissot love to showcase their 19th Century heritage on the front of their watches. This brand has been making high quality watches for over 150 years. Whilst I’m not a fan of all their watches, and you will be paying a premium for the ‘Swiss made’ label on the dial, you can still pick up their ‘Everytime’ range for a similar price to most microbrand fashion watches. These offer superior design and sapphire glass, alongside a quality Swiss quartz movement. They do offer automatic versions of many of these, but they come in at much higher prices.
I’ve handled some of these at retailers before, but I’m hoping to purchase one to review on this channel at some point.
Orient Bambino Version 3
If it’s an automatic that you’re after for around £100, look no further than the Orient Bambino. This watch is phenomenally popular for a few reasons. Firstly, the Orient brand has real horological history. This brand was founded in 1950, in ‘the Orient’ (Japan); though the brand has been making watches under various names since 1901. Nowadays, they are a part of the Seiko group, but still make all of their movements in-house. This Bambino features a fully automatic movement housed in a well-built case. If you’re unfamiliar with automatic movements, these are different to the battery powered quartz movements powering most fashion watches. This mechanism basically uses gears and the movement of the wearer to automatically power the watch – pretty cool eh?
In addition, I think this is one of the most attractive dress watches you can get in this price range. The version 3 has a super minimalist dial and features attractive domed glass to boot. There’s typically a variety of colours available to suit your taste and is a far better alternative to Daniel Wellington watches.
Linjer
Up until now, I’ve mentioned several huge brands, so I think I should at least mention one microbrand. Watches don’t get much more minimalist than those offered by Linjer. I recently showed this brand in my drop-shipping video – I used them as an example of one of the few super minimalist watches that aren’t drop-shipped.
While these are manufactured in China, they are composed of far better materials and built to a much higher quality than the likes of MVMT or The Fifth. They feature a Swiss movement, a much better-quality strap and Sapphire glass. One of the key features with this brand is that they choose not to feature any noticeable branding on the dial. To some, I can see how this design may come across as boring and lacking character; however, I know a lot of people out there love the fact that they can wear a great looking watch that isn’t dominated by any logos or marketing. If this ultra-minimalist approach takes your fancy, Linjer may be worth a look. I think the quartz variants offer better value than their automatic watches, which are too pricey for my liking.
Junkers Bauhaus (Slightly More)
Many minimalists watch these days have taken inspiration from the timeless Bauhaus design movement of the 1920s and 30s. A great example of true Bauhaus design is that utilised by German brand Junkers, whom used to manufacture military aircraft. The watches bearing their name are assembled in Germany by a company called Pointtec; which to the customer generally means solid quality control. Out of all of the watches in this post, I think this one has the most elegant design. I can’t fully attest to the quality of this watch, as it’s one on this list that I am yet to have experience with (basically, I can’t afford to buy one); however it looks so attractive, I can’t not put it on the list.
They do make automatic versions for around the £450 mark, but for the sake of this post, if you’re on a fashion watch budget, I’d recommend looking at the quartz version. The 6070 model retails for around £200, so is slightly more than the typical Daniel Wellington; however, you can tell a lot more thought has gone into designing this piece.
So, that’s 10 better alternatives to Daniel Wellington watches. If you like the sound of one of them, I’ve got them linked in the buttons throughout this article (affiliate). If you buy using those links, it really helps to support the work I do on this channel and website.